Delaware Park jockeys will be entitled to a $2-million on-track accident insurance policy--twice the industry standard--and pay a mount fee toward their premiums in what is being called a precedent-setting agreement.

A director of the Delaware Jockey Association is helping riders at Philadelphia Park Racetrack & Casino negotiate for more comprehensive on-track accident insurance and other health and welfare benefits.

Trainer Scott Lake, who currently leads the nation in races won, is facing a 30-day suspension handed down by the Delaware Thoroughbred Racing Commission after a second positive test for clenbuterol at the current Delaware Park meet.

A suspected case of the equine herpesvirus in the stable area at Monmouth Park has forced the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, which owns and operates the Oceanport track and Meadowlands in East Rutherford, to impose strict limitations on the shipment of horses.

Extreme heat in the East is taking its toll on racing, as six tracks cancelled racing for either Tuesday or Wednesday. Among the most prominent cancellations was Saratoga, which called off live racing for Wednesday.

As the summer racing season heats up, HorseRacing TV (TM) presents racing fans with live coverage of two major grade II stakes races July 15--the $500,000 Delaware Oaks at Delaware Park and the $350,000 Ohio Derby at Thistledown.

Glencrest Farm's Honey Ryder is the formidable presence in the $300,000 Robert G. Dick Memorial Breeders' Cup at Delaware Park July 15. The 1 3/8 turf affair for fillies and mares has attracted a field of nine. Scheduled as the sixth race, it has an approximate post time of 3:00 p.m. (EST)

Pete Lizarzaburu, a former jockey who currently serves as social program coordinator for the Delaware Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association, is this year's winner of the Dogwood Dominion Award, which honors an unsung hero in Thoroughbred racing.

Jockeys at two racetracks in the Mid-Atlantic region are taking a grassroots approach to representation given what they believe to be ongoing conflict at the Jockeys' Guild, which represents riders around the country.

Jockey Jeremy Rose's decision to remain at Delaware Park for most of Saturday afternoon paid off when he rode Trickle of Gold to victory in the $75,000 Sweet and Sassy Stakes for fillies and mares at six furlongs.

As Delaware Park begins its 69th season of Thoroughbred racing, management has announced a major Las Vegas-style expansion of the facility pending approval from New Castle County, where the track is located.

Trainer J. Larry Jones, who usually splits his stable between Prairie Meadows Racetrack & Casino in Iowa and Ellis Park in Kentucky after the close of the Oaklawn Park meet, will move his stable to Delaware Park for the 136-day meet that runs from April 22-Nov. 13.

Fair Hill Training Center, home to more than 400 horses, has instituted stringent guidelines to ensure the well being of all horses stabled at the facility and to provide the best opportunity for those same horses to race when entry restrictions lift later this month as nearby out of state racetracks.

William M. Rickman Sr., who was instrumental in helping to save Delaware Park in the mid-1980s after it had closed due to declining business and competition from nearby racetracks, died Sept. 30 at Shady Grove Adventist Hospital in Rockville, Md. He was 84.

A donation of $1 million to a newly created "Delaware Good Neighbor Fund," designed to provide relief for the victims of Hurricane Katrina, has been made by the Rickman family, the owners of Delaware Park.

Bob Brittingham couldn't help but shake his head and smile. It was one of those shakes when something almost too good to be true is happening, and one of those wry smiles people get when they are on a roll.

Graded stakes winners Sun King and High Limit highlight a tough, compact field of seven in Saturday's $300,000 Leonard Richards Stakes (gr. III) at Delaware Park. The 1 1/16-mile contest marks the first start for the duo since finishing fourth and fifth, respectively, in the Preakness Stakes (gr. I).

Grade I winner Sis City will return to action Saturday in the $500,000 Delaware Oaks (gr. II) at Delaware Park, where she will face seven divisional rivals, including stakes winners Round Pond and Dance Away Capote.

Though the focus July 17 will be on the first $1-million race in the history of Delaware Park, the afternoon will serve as a proving ground for a new wager proponents hope becomes an industry standard.